An Education Manifesto for 2021 and Beyond - Reform Scotland
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Commission on School Reform Policy Recommendations for the 2021 election
Percentage of marks from exam in the most popular subjects at National 5 and Higher
Catching up the Educational Losses from Covid-19
COMMISSION
ON SCHOOL
REFORM
An Education Manifesto for
2021 and Beyond
April 2021
P age |1Membership of the Commission on School Reform is as follows:
Keir Bloomer (Chair): Education Consultant and former Director
of Education
John Barnett: University Court Member, retired finance
professional and former Parent Council Chairman
Helen Chambers: Deputy Chief Executive of Inspiring Scotland
Jamie Cooke: Head of RSA Scotland
Carole Ford: Former head teacher
Jim Goodall: Former Head of Education and Community Services
at Clackmannanshire Council and current Lib Dem councillor at
East Dunbartonshire Council
Anna Hazel-Dunn: Headteacher, Royal High Primary
Frank Lennon: Former head teacher of Dunblane High School
Cllr Paul McLennan: SNP Councillor in East Lothian
Ross Martin: Former school teacher, voluntary tutor, chair of local
education authority, member of college board and university court.
Lindsay Paterson: Professor of education policy in the School of
Social and Political Science at Edinburgh University
Lesley Sutherland: Board member, the Centre for Scottish Public
Policy
Please note that all members of the commission participate in an individual
capacity and that the views of the commission do not represent the views of
any other organisation to which the individual members belong.
This report is part of a series being produced by Reform Scotland and the Scottish
Policy Foundation ahead of the Scottish parliament election on May 6, 2021
The Commission on School Reform was set up by Reform Scotland and the Centre of Scottish
Public Policy. Reform Scotland, a charity registered in Scotland, is a non-partisan public policy
institute which works to promote increased economic prosperity, more effective public services
and expanded opportunities for all Scots. Reform Scotland’s policies cover the following broad
themes:
Increasing prosperity
A positive climate for entrepreneurs and innovators
Reform and modernisation of public services
Widening opportunity for all
Compassion for those who slip through the cracks
Greater courage and appetite for risk among policy-makers.
.
The Scottish Policy Foundation is Scotland’s grant-giving foundation for public policy research.
We aim to foster high quality public debate by supporting the work of think tanks from across the
political spectrum in order to promote honest, insightful and objective policy research to the
people of Scotland. The research we support is focused on devolved powers only: we avoid
constitutional or reserved issues. Our core ethos is that any rigorously researched and
considered idea will add to the quality of debate and therefore improve policy formulation in
Scotland. We are a registered charity (charity number SC047290) governed by a board of
Trustees and managed by a Director. The Trustees are supported by an Advisory Council who
assess our work for academic rigour, independence, impact and quality. We are independent,
apolitical and concerned only with promoting good governance in Scotland.Commission on School Reform Policy Recommendations for the 2021 election
Percentage of marks from exam in the most popular subjects at National 5 and Higher
Catching up the Educational Losses from Covid-19
Introduction
On the basis of the available evidence, Scottish school education is coasting. It lacks
creativity and a capacity for innovation. Most, but by no means all, young people are able
to take advantage of opportunities that are of good quality but not world-leading. This falls
short of what our country should aspire to. It lacks the ambition of proclaimed aims such
as improving standards for all while closing the attainment gap.
Culture and Governance
Under successive governments, a culture of compliance has developed, inhibiting innovation. As a result,
the system lacks diversity and is not well-placed to learn either from its own experiences or the
experiences of others.
Processes of change are not effective. Major programmes of reform deliver less than they promise and at
a very high cost in terms of teacher workload. More than sixteen years after the publication of Curriculum
for Excellence, it is difficult to see the kind of transformational change that the report envisaged.
Since devolution, control of education has become dangerously over-centralised. There is a need to
reassert the role of local government. This has implications for education but goes beyond the scope of
this paper. At the same time, there is a lack of any governance structure at school level, connecting schools
to their communities and giving them access to support and expertise.
No government will succeed in making the educational improvements that are necessary unless it is
prepared to make far-reaching changes in the way the system is run by challenging the coalition of vested
interests that thrive in the current culture of complacency and conservatism.
The Commission on School Reform believes that necessary measures include:
Greatly increased school autonomy, ensuring that critical decisions are taken by headteachers and
school staff in close collaboration with other stakeholders but not subject to external reversal.
A new Headteachers’ Charter enshrining school control over the curriculum (subject only to a
limited national strategy), staffing and the devolved school budget.
An extensive programme of professional development designed to promote leadership and
independent thinking.
A government commitment to increased innovation and diversity with funding available to support
credible programmes of change.
A mandatory requirement on government to commission independent evaluations of all significant
policy changes.
Reform of teacher education and professional development, focused on raising standards and
promoting professional qualities including the responsibility to offer constructive challenge to
authority.
A greater focus on professional development and career opportunities for other school-based staff.
The introduction of ‘partnership boards’ with significant powers and broad stakeholder
representation, including elected parents, to give each school access to a pool of local expertise
and opinion.
P age |3Commission on School Reform Policy Recommendations for the 2021 election
Percentage of marks from exam in the most popular subjects at National 5 and Higher
Catching up the Educational Losses from Covid-19
Curriculum
Curricular policy is confused and, in important respects, deficient. The 2004 report, Curriculum for
Excellence, established four objectives and seven curriculum principles at a very high level of generality.
These have been widely applauded but frequently misunderstood. It is now clear that the implementation
programme has been seriously flawed and that important changes are needed.
A review by the OECD will be published but not until after the election. Any incoming government will
wish to take account of its conclusions and recommendations. However, there are other measures which
will be required.
A radical simplification and improvement of existing curricular guidance is needed. This will
involve the withdrawal of much existing guidance. The aim must be a limited framework of high-
quality strategic guidance that is easily understood and put into practice.
A crucial element in the improvement of curricular guidance is the restoration of the place of
knowledge in the process of learning.
The traditional breadth of the S4 curriculum requires to be restored, allowing young people to
study a larger number of subjects. This will require a recognition that prior learning contributes to
certificated courses taken in S4.
There is a need to review progression in the curriculum from early years to the senior phase so as
to promote greater breadth in upper primary, improved transition to secondary, and greater
coherence and less fragmentation in the early years of secondary education where the need for
innovation is particularly evident.
When reviewing the curriculum, the opportunity should be taken to strengthen the personal support
and pastoral guidance available to young people, especially in the secondary sector.
These changes need to be accompanied by reforms in the way curricular policy is developed and schools
are given access to support.
Education Scotland should be abolished.
An independent inspectorate should be established, overseen by a board independent of
government influence and answerable to Parliament. The focus of the inspectorate’s activities
should be as much on the effectiveness of policy as on its implementation at the level of the
individual school or other establishment.
Strategic curriculum guidance should be developed collaboratively with extensive stakeholder
involvement but should be seen clearly as the responsibility of government rather than a
supposedly arms-length agency.
Resources available for developing advice and delivering support should be progressively
devolved to school level, allowing school staff to select those providers who they see as offering
the best quality service.
P age |4Commission on School Reform Policy Recommendations for the 2021 election
Percentage of marks from exam in the most popular subjects at National 5 and Higher
Catching up the Educational
Assessment Losses from Covid-19
and examinations
The operation of the Scottish Qualifications Agency has been strongly criticised during the period of
lockdown. Some critics have gone as far as to suggest that formal examinations should be abolished
entirely and replaced by assessments of coursework. The Commission believes that this would be
profoundly mistaken. The objectivity of examinations and their freedom from plagiarism and outside help
are of great value. A blend of different kinds of assessment has great merit.
The Commission believes that there are significant problems with the existing pattern of qualifications
which means that many young people face examinations in three successive years, involving a ‘two-term
dash’ in both S4 and S5. However, any credible reform will necessarily involve radical changes in the
delivery of education in the senior phase of schooling and beyond. These could involve a raising of the
minimum age for leaving education or training and a closer alignment of the later stages of secondary
schooling with tertiary education.
During the next Parliament, the system of qualifications in the senior phase of secondary education
should be reviewed with the objectives of encouraging much greater coordination among schools,
colleges and universities and reducing the frequency of examinations.
There are, however, also improvements to be made in the shorter term.
Existing examination processes should be reviewed in order to improve their validity by reducing
reliance on simple recall.
It should be clarified that schools are entitled to secure examination and certification services from
the supplier of their choice.
Vocational learning
Scottish school education has traditionally been more successful in relation to academic subjects than
vocationally-oriented learning. At the same time, it has not been very successful in meeting the needs of
disengaged learners, especially in the secondary years. A more flexible senior phase is a significant step
forward which can pave the way for further progress.
Collaboration among schools and other providers should be further encouraged and developed.
Government should promote and fund alternative forms of provision – which may, or may not,
involve school attendance – for disengaged learners.
Where arrangements other than full-time school attendance are deemed appropriate, all funding
should follow the young person.
P age |5Commission on School Reform Policy Recommendations for the 2021 election
Percentage of marks from exam in the most popular subjects at National 5 and Higher
Catching upyears
Early the Educational Losses from Covid-19
The expansion of early-years provision has been a success story of recent years. There is good research
evidence that high-quality services for very young children have the capacity to make an impact on the
attainment gap. The need now, therefore, is to raise the quality of provision and to ensure that the most
vulnerable children receive an appropriate service as soon as possible. An important part of this process
will be raising the level of qualification of a significant part of the workforce. Both local authority and
partnership nurseries should be led by people holding qualifications specifically relevant to education and
care in the early years.
A career structure and long-term professional development opportunities, accompanied by suitable
incentives, need to be put in place for all staff working in early-years education and childcare,
especially those entering with minimum qualifications.
Funding should be made available to promote innovative child development services for
vulnerable children for the period between post-natal health-related services and the point of
access to early-years services.
Educational recovery
The Commission believes that the pandemic has had a disastrous impact on education and that urgent
action is needed to support the learning of young people currently going through the education system. It
is deeply concerned that the impact has been greatest on disadvantaged learners and that the attainment
gap has significantly widened. Some of our suggested actions are for government but others can be
determined at school level.
A flexible system of additional support needs to put in place to enable educational recovery as
quickly as possible. This could involve additional time in school, homework clubs, Saturday clubs
and so forth.
Tutor support should be made available on a generous basis, particularly to disadvantaged learners.
Urgent steps require to be taken to ensure that learning at home and/or blended learning are far
more effectively supported in any future emergency.
The mechanisms and resources developed should be used to give additional support to those
requiring it in the course of their normal schooling.
The school year should be reorganised to create a more balanced pattern of holidays.
Research and data
Improving the education system requires good information and data. There are important gaps in
Scotland’s current arrangements.
An independent body similar to the Office for National Statistics should be established to oversee
the collection and analysis of statistics and data on Scottish education.
Scotland should re-join the international TIMSS and PIRLS studies and consider whether there
are other useful options for improving our knowledge of how performance in Scotland compares
with elsewhere.
Building on the experience of the now-defunct Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy and its
predecessors, a new sample survey of performance in key areas of the curriculum at several stages
of primary and early secondary education should be reintroduced.
Better use should be made of the existing good-quality standardised tests by introducing
consistency into the way in which they are administered with a view to obtaining data which has
much greater validity.
Educational innovations should be systematically and independently evaluated with findings being
widely shared.
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